The bullet trains, or Shinkansen, are one of the things that everyone associates with Japan. Anyone who travels there will inevitably ride one many times during their stay, which is why it may seem rather strange that the first and only time I went on one was in July last year, a couple of weeks before I was due to leave Japan.
I have a good reason though - they are very expensive to ride. A return trip (of about 2 hours each way) to Osaka costs something like $400! Now, all of the tourists coming to Japan are eligible for a Japan Rail pass that for a set fee (around $700 last time I heard) gives unlimited use of any of Japan's trains for 2 weeks, but I, being on a student visa, was not eligible.
Still, by July I had some money spare and so I thought I should take the chance to ride on these iconic trains! I had loved Kyoto when I visited earlier in the year, so off I went again. Luckily for me my one-night trip coincided with both the famous Gion Festival in Kyoto and a friend's birthday in nearby Osaka, so even though it was a short trip, it was jam-packed with things to do.
The following photos are from Tokyo Station, somewhere in the mountains, Kyoto, and the nearby historic town of Uji.